Quality entertainment can be hard to come by, especially for those who are actively trying to stick to a budget. When household expenses need to be slashed, entertainment is usually the first thing to go — and that’s no fun for anybody.

You can help your friends and family out by gifting them a form of entertainment to make up for what they’re missing out on. In this article we explore all kinds of gift cards, subscriptions, and gadgets that are perfect for this, and most of them work just fine as last-minute ideas!

1. Netflix or Hulu

Netflix is one of the safest options for gifting. Its library may be shrinking, but most of what remains is top-notch stuff and there’s something to watch for everyone. Even if you don’t watch dramas or comedies, you can still enjoy documentaries and “slow TV“.

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Gifting Netflix is easy. Just buy a Netflix Gift Card off Amazon (if you want to do it electronically) or buy a physical gift card available from most major retailers (if you want it to be more personal).

2. Spotify, Pandora, Google Music, and iTunes

For the entertainment freak who’s more into music than movies or TV, it doesn’t get much better than Spotify. You can purchase a Spotify Gift Card directly on the website, or you can get a physical card at a major retailer.

Note that while many of these services offer Family Plans or other shared plans that can be cheaper overall, such plans are usually excluded from gift card redemptions. Also note that these cards are usually only redeemable in the same country in which they were bought.

3. Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime may not be for everyone, but it’s extremely useful for many! And chances are, gifting Prime to a friend or family member will be met with much gratitude. There are so many benefits to Amazon Prime that this may just be the safest gift idea ever, second only to the Amazon Gift Card.

4. Scribd

Scribd is an excellent choice for someone who prefers reading over other forms of entertainment that involve watching or listening. Its library consists of hundreds of thousands of eBooks, comics, academic papers, and other documents.

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What’s nice is that Scribd has special agreements with several major publishing houses, which lend to its massive library size. Some Kindle exclusives aren’t available though. See our comparison of Scribd and Kindle Unlimited to learn more.

Audible is the industry leader for audiobooks, and the nice thing about its gifting program is that you can either gift full memberships or individual titles.

6. Amazon Echo

For music lovers, the Amazon Echo is paradise encased in a cylinder. It provides immersive audio in 360 degrees, responds to hundreds of voice commands, and can stream music from all kinds of services including Spotify, Pandora, Amazon, and more.

9. GameStop Gift Card

Games are tough to gift. You never know whether a person is going to like a game or not. Even if you know someone’s favorite genres, not all games in that genre are the same.

So if you’re buying a gift for a gamer this year, don’t buy them individual games unless they’ve specifically asked for one. It’s too risky. Just get them a GameStop Gift Card and let them decide. Digital and physical cards are available.

10. Amazon Gift Card

When all else fails, you can always rely on a trusty Amazon Gift Card (CA). This thing is so versatile and valuable that it’s almost equivalent to cold hard cash — the benefit being that it doesn’t feel as impersonal or as desperate as cash.

If you don’t want to gift it electronically, you can opt for the Print-at-Home Amazon Gift Card. Or you could just buy a physical card from any major retailer.

So tell us, which of these, if any, are you giving as gifts this year? Do you know of any other entertainment-related gifts that we have overlooked? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments below!